versus Descriptive. Models can vary in the degree to which they attempt to incorporate the detail of particular targets. An example of a model which aims to be a detailed representation of a specific location and the developments there is the work by Dean et al. (1999) on the Long House Valley, in northern Arizona near Monument Valley. The model covers a time from about A.D. 400 to 1400 and con...

BACKGROUND Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), such as acupuncture and herbal medicine, is popular in many countries. Yet, treatment outcomes of CAM are found to vary significantly between medical trials in different social environments. This paper addresses how the social organization of medicine affects medical treatment outcomes. In particular, it examines the extent to which two p...

Most scientists take ethical arguments for conservation as given and focus on scientific or economic questions. Although nature conservation is often considered a just cause, it is given little further consideration. A lack of attention to ethical theory raises serious concerns for how conservation scientists conceive and practice ethics. I contrast two common ways scientists approach ethics, a...

Randomized controlled trials and critical social theory are known not to be happy bedfellows. Such trials are embedded in a positivist view of the world, seeking definitive answers to testable questions; critical social theory questions the methods by which we deem the world knowable and may consider experiments in the biomedical sciences as social artifacts. Yet both of these epistemologically...

The index of dissimilarity, often denoted by Delta, is commonly used, especially in social science and with large datasets, to describe the lack of fit of models for categorical data. In this paper the definition and sampling properties of the index are investigated for general log-linear models. It is argued that in some applications a standardized version of the index is appropriate for inter...

Acknowledging the consolidation of citizen science, this paper aims to foster a collective debate on two visible gaps field. First, how overcome limited participation social sciences and humanities in broader field still dominated by natural sciences. Second, develop science that allows for an active citizens critical engagement with contemporary societies. The authors coordinate state-sponsore...